Sheet feeding mechanism



July 27, 1937- Y R.RE|NARTz t 2,087,99'I7A SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 1.9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet frwenJrf y July 2.7, 1937.' R. REINARTz j 2,081,991

SHEET FEEDIN@- MECHANISM ffy-4 Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Robert Reinartz,

the-Main, Germany, ser, Offenbach, near Germany Offenbach, near Frankfort-onassignor to Arthur Worm- Frankfort-on-the-Main,

Application December 19, 1935, Serial No. 55,221

In Germany December 29, 1934 20 Claims.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanism, and it more specifically pertains to means whereby sheets, 'conveyed either individually or in superimposed relation, are advanced to front registering guides.

In mechanism of the class to which my invention applies, the sheet aligning means and/or the final front registering guides have been equipped with cover plates orthe like for the `purpose of holding down the leading edge of sheets to be registered, to thereby prevent buckling or curving up of the sheets.

It has been found, however, that with -the arrangements heretofore used the sheets frequently do not enter below the cover plates-and consequently they fail to reach the registering guides.

One of the primarybbjects of my invention therefore is to provide means which will effectively hold down the leading edge of sheets to be registered and advance them under positive control to the registering guides.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of pneumatic means whereby the principle of my invention can be accomplished.

A further object is to provide a novel combination of sheet controlling means which includes sheet aligning devices adapted to effectively slow down oncoming sheets prior to reaching their registering position.

Other objectslof my invention will be apparent from the appended claims and accompanying drawings, which latter illustrate some desirable embodiments of the invention, and in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in cross section, of a registering mechanism to which my invention has been applied, while Figures 2 to 6 represent in diagrammatic views the various steps of one manner whereby my invention may be carried into effect.

Referring now to the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figure 1, the sheets to be registered are fed in superimposed relation over the feed table i and toward the registering guides 3. The sheet 'I is shown in its position ready to be advanced to the' aligning i. e. slow down member 9, 20, whereas the previously registered sheet 8 has left the front guides 3 and is in the course of being removed from the table I, its rear portion still in part covering the underlying sheet l.

The mechanism whereby the various functions of my invention are accomplished includes a guide member Il which accommodates a slide I2 so that the latter can be moved to and fro by means of a connecting rod I3, one end of which is pivoted to said slide, while the other end is pivoted to one arm of a bell crank lever lli.

On the end of the other arm of said lever I4 is mounted a roller I5 which is held against a cam Ill secured to a shaft I6. The slide I2 is provided with an arm I8, the front end of which is formed with a suction nozzle I9. A bore in the arm I8 serves to receive and guide an extension of the member 9 so that said arm may freely slide parallel to the suction surface of the nozzle I9. The hook 2l! which is provided with a cover plate 2l to extend over the leading edge of oncoming sheets, is moved relatively to the nozzle I9 by means of a connecting rod 22 pivoted to the free end of thearm 9, bell crank lever 23, roller 24 15 and. cam 25, said bell crank lever 23 being pivotally mounted at 26 to the slide I2.

Consequently, during the reciprocating move ment of said slide, the roller-2li will ride over the cam 25, thereby reciprocating the hook 20 with relation to the nozzle i9. The guide member II and the cam 25 are mounted on a shaft 'Z'I which is rocked by means of an arm 28, the free end of which carries a roller 29 which is held against a cam 3@ secured to the shaft It. The cam rollers M, i5 and 29 are preferably held against their cooperating cams by means of tension springs 3i, 33 and 32 respectively.

The operation of the mechanism just described is as follows. The suction nozzle I9 together with the hook 2t are preferably guided by or moved within grooves 36 or the like which may be provided inthe table i, one reciprocation of the nozzle i9 and the hook 2l] occurring during each cycle of revolution of the shaft I6. As indicated above, the hook 2t has a relative movement to the nozzle I9 in addition to its regular'recipro-v eating motion.'

In the position illustrated in Figure l, the projecting end of the' coverr plate 2l on the hook 20 is-located' somewhat in front' and above the leading edgfe of the oncoming sheet ll, Which is shown as being engaged by the nozzle IQ. Therefore, upon further relative movement of said hook 2@ and thenozzle I9 towards each other the leading edge of sheet 'l will become located beneath the cover plate 2l. i

It is desirable that when the nozzle I9 is about to engage the leading edge of the oncoming sheet 50 l, the speed at which said nozzle is moved forward should be equal to the speed of the oncoming sheet, which latter may be advanced to the position shown in Figure l by any conventional means such as forwarding tapes or the like. This will avoid any deviation of an oncoming sheet from its normal path of travel.

After the nozzle `I9 has engaged the sheet 'I the slide I2 will continue its forward movement and subsequently the roller 24 will reach the depressed portion of the cam 25, thereby the lever 23 will be rocked in a clockwise direction and the hook 20, together with the cover plate 2| will be moved towards the nozzle I5 so that the leading edge of the sheet 'I will enter beneath said cover plate. The motion of the slide I2 will be decelerated so that after the nozzle I9 has released the sheet 'I, the speed of the slide I2 and therewith of hook 20 will be such that the leading edge of the sheet will abut gently against the inner vertical face of the hook 29. The degree of deceleration depends on the contour of the cam I'I. In this manner the hook 20 may readily serve as a preregistering or as an aligning member for the sheets.

The forward movement and deceleration of the slide I2 continues after the hook or hooks 20 have received the sheet, and at the time when the leading edge of a sheet approaches the front guides 3 the sheet will have assumed a minimum speed. As soon as the sheet enters beneath the cover plate 34, the guides 3 begin to move down from the position shown in Figure 1 to an extent that a clearance will remain between the top surface of the sheet and said cover plate, permitting the leading edge of the sheet to lay 'free on the registering table.

As illustrated in Figure 1, during the time that the underlying sheet 1 is being registered as described above, the previously registered sheet 8, which overlays the sheet 1 is being removed to the paper handling machine such as a printing press. While a portion of sheet 8 may still in part overlap the sheet 1, during the registering of the latter, it will not interfere with its register, because the cover plate 2l of the hook 20 holds the sheet 84 above the leading edge of sheet 'I.

While the sheet 'I is being held against the guides 3, the slide I2 is given a further accelerated forward movement to an extent that the rear edge of' the cover plate 2| will pass the leading edge of the sheet 1. Thereupon the guide II is rocked by the cam 30 in a counterclockwise direction so that the nozzle I9 and the hook 20 will become located below the top surface of the table I. .The slide I2 is then moved back and before the hook 20 reaches its sheet receiving position the slide II is again rocked upwardly when the roller 29 engages the cusp of the cam 30. Simultaneously, as the roller 24 rides over the high portion of cam 25, the hook 20 is moved away from the nozzle I9 andl the parts will then have resumed their initial position shown in Figure 1, ready to receive the next sheet.

The hooks 20 may be omitted, in which case the sheets would be advanced to the registering guides by the suction nozzle I9, or the registering guides may be omitted and the hooks 20 may serve as the only means for registering the sheets.

Furthermore, as illustrated in Figures 2 to 6, the mechanism for operating the suction nozzle I9 could be suchthat said nozzle, prior to engaging an oncoming sheet, would be raised So that its sheet engaging surface would be above the plane of the sheet support, thereby deflecting the leading edge of a sheet. After engaging the sheet said nozzle would again be lowered in order to bring the sheet into the plane of said support.

In the arrangement represented by said figures, the sheet slow down i. e. sheet preregistering hook 20 is omitted and the sheets are advanced direct to the front guides 3 by the nozzle I9. The mechanism whereby the nozzle I 9 is actuated may of course be similar to that illustrated in Figure 1. y

Referring to Figure 2, the guide 3 is shown in front of the registering table I and below its surface in order to avoid any interference with the forwarding of the preceding sheet. The leading edge of the sheet I to be registered is sometimes curved upwards from its own nature or if not so is deflected by the upward movement of i the nozzle I9 and after suction is applied to said nozzle it is dipped down into the plane of nozzle I9 (see Figure 3). At the moment when the nozzle I9 engages the sheet 1, its forward speed should be equivalent to that at which the sheet is being advanced to said nozzle.

During the continued forward movement of the nozzle I9 with the sheet 'I, they are lowered into the plane of table I (see Figurell) and the front guides 3 are moved up and toward the front edge of thetable I into the position shown in Figure 4, so that the cover plate 34 of said guides will extend over said front edge when the nozzle and sheet will have advanced so far as shown in Figure 5. Shortly after the leading edge of the sheet 'I has passed beneath the cover plate 34, the suction in the nozzle I9 is broken, thereby releasing the sheet which may thereupon be brought 'and held in contact with the guides 3 by means of forwarding tapes or any other suitable mechanism (see Figure 6). The guides 3, together with the cover plate 34, before the sheet touches said guides have been moved downward into the position illustrated in Figure 6 so that said cover plate will hold down the leading edgeof sheet 'I but leaving a clearance between the sheet and the cover plate 34. The nozzle is then returned to its sheet engaging position shown in Figure 2.

It will be readily understood that any desirable number of front guides, aligning devices and nozzles I9 may be used, and the guides, aligning devices and nozzles may be arranged either in line parallel with the feeding direction of the sheets, or they may be spaced laterally in offset relation to each other.

Furthermore, the cover plate 34 need not be an integral part of the guide 3 but could be a separate member actuated independently of said guides.- In that event the guides 3 would merely move up and down, whereas the cover plate 34 would have imparted thereto a movement similar to that hereinabove described. In addition to the cover plate 34 or 2 I, other means for holding down and controlling the sheets could be provided.

The described devices may be made use of if the cover plate is bent upwards at its rear end or if the cover plate of the aligning device is movable up and down similarly to the motion of guides 3 described because such bending or motion yof the cover plates sometimes is not sufficient to securely bring the sheet under the cover plate especially with stiff and wavy material.

be registered is covered by a part of the preceding sheet and if the preceding sheet has left the feeding table in advance. Either seriated sheets or single sheets may be advanced over the feeding table.

It will be readily understood that while I have described some preferred forms of my invention, -various other modifications are possible without departing from the principle of the invention, furthermore, my invention may be successfully embodied in other types of sheet registering apparatus, therefore, it is my intention to cover any arrangements that will come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Sheet registering mechanism,' having in combination stock supporting means, movable sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means beting adapted to engage the bottom surface of an oncoming sheet, advance it to said aligning means and release it prior to touching the registering face of said aligning means.

2. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means adapted to receive a continuous bank of seriated sheets, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction being adapted to engage the bottom surface of an underlying sheet, advance said sheet to saidaligning means and release it prior to being registered.

3, Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means adapted to receive a continuous bank of seriated sheets, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom surface at the leading edge of an underlying sheet, advance said sheet to said aligning means and release it prior to being registered.

4. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means adapted to receive a continuous bank of seriated sheets, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom surface at the leading edge of an lunderlying sheet, advance said sheet to said aligning means and release it prior to its leading edge abutting against said aligning means.

5. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, movable sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom surface of an oncoming sheet, raise said sheet above its support and then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying flat on said support.

6. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means adapted to receive a continuous bank of seriated sheets, movable sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement .with respect to said aligning means, said suction meansbeing adapted to engage the bottom surface of an underlying sheet, raise said sheet above its support and then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying fiat on said support.. v

7. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination, a registering table adapted to support a continuous bank of seriated sheets, front registering guides, sheet slow down means adapted to present the leading edge of a sheet to said guides, and suction means adapted to engage the leading edge of an oncoming underlying sheet and advance it to said sheet slow down means.

8. Sheet registering" mechanism, having in combination, a registering table adapted to support a continuous bank of seriated sheets, movable front registering guides having a portion thereof extending over the leading edge of a sheet to be registered, sheet slow down means adapted to present the leading edge of a sheet to said guides, and suction means adapted to engage the leading edge of an oncoming underlying sheet and advance said sheet into engagement with said sheet slowdown means. I

9. Sheet registering mechanism having in combination, a registering tab-le, `front registering guides, preregistering means having a portion thereof extending over the leading edgebf an oncoming sheet to hold it down, and suction means adapted to engage the bottom surface at the leading edge of an oncoming sheet and advance it to said preregistering means.

10. Sheet registering mechanism, combination, a registering table adapted to support a continuous bank of seriated sheets, front registering guides, preregistering means having a portion thereof extending over the leading edge of a sheet to be registered in order to avoid curling up of said leading edge, said preregisteringmeans being adapted to slow down sheets during their travel to said front reistering guides and having means to raise a previously registered sheet above an oncoming sheet, and suction means adapted to engage the leading edge of an oncoming sheet and present it to said preregistering means.

11. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination, la registering table, front registering guides, preregistering means adapted to engage an oncoming sheet, slow it down, and move bodily with a sheet to present it to said front registering guides, and suction means adapted to engage the bottom surface at the leading edge of an oncoming sheet and present it to said preregistering means.

12. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination, .a registering table, iront registering guides, sheet slow down means adapted to present the leading edge of a sheet to said guides, and suction means arranged to engage the underside of the leading edge of an oncoming sheet and move bodily with a sheet to present it to said slow down means.

13. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination, a registering table adapted to support a continuous bank of seriated sheets, front registering guides, sheet slow down means adapted to present the leading edge of a -sheet to said combination, a registering table adapted to support a continuous bank of seriated sheets, front registering guides, sheet slow down means adapted to present the leading edge of a sheet to said guides, suction means adapted to engage the underside of the leading edge of an oncoming underlying sheet and advance a sheet into engagement with said sheet slow down means, and

an integral portion on said slow down means extending over the leading edge of a sheet to be registered and holding a previously registered sheet out of the path of said suction means.

15. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, sheet aligning means, covering means adjacent to said sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said covering means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom' surface of an oncoming sheet, advance it under the rear edge of said covering means and release'it prior to its leading edge abutting against said aligning means.

16. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, movable sheet aligning means, covering means adjacent to said sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said covering means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom surface of an oncoming sheet, advance it under the rear edge of said covering means and release it prior to its leading edge abutting against said aligning means.

17. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to raise and thereby engage the bottom surface of an oncoming sheet, and then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying at on said support.

18. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means adapted to receive a continuous bank of seriated sheets, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligningV means, said suction means being adapted to raise and thereby engage the bottom surface of an underlying sheet, and then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying flat on said support.

19. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, movable sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to engage the bottom surface of an oncoming sheet, raise said sheet above its support, then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying dat on said support and release it prior to the leading edge of said sheet touching the registering face of said aligning means.

20. Sheet registering mechanism, having in combination stock supporting means, sheet aligning means, and suction means having relative movement with respect to said aligning means, said suction means being adapted to raise and thereby engage the bottom surface oi.' an oncoming sheet, then lower it to present it to said aligning means while lying flat on said support and release it prior to the leading edge of said sheet touching the registering face of said align- 

